Microsoft has announced that with Visual Studio 2015 – Apache Cordova tools will be integrated within the main install bundle. Using Apache Cordova Tools for Visual Studio you will be able to develop cross-platform mobile applications using single codebase for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

Grunt, Gulp, Bower and Node-based Workflows – Starting with the RC release, it’s also much easier for you to build Cordova apps using tools familiar to many web developers.

New Templates from Ionic and Onsen UI – Ionic and Onsen UI templates are provided as optional to enable developers to try out the new frameworks. Each framework provides a variety of starting points to suit the most common project types.

This preview release for Visual Studio 2013 Update 4 and Visual Studio 2015 RC supports building apps for the following device targets:

Android 4+

iOS 6, iOS 7, iOS 8

Windows 8.0 and Windows 8.1 Store

Windows Phone 8.0 and Windows Phone 8.1

Benefits of using Visual Studio Tools for Apache Cordova:

When you develop apps using Visual Studio Tools for Apache Cordova, Visual Studio provides these benefits:

Easy installation. Manual installation of Cordova involves a lot of work to find, install, and maintain the correct version of all the third-party software required to support native platforms. Visual Studio handles all that for you by including a third-party dependency installer that gets you up and running in the first hour.

Plugin management. Cordova plugins provide access to native APIs using a JavaScript interface. Support for custom plugins like those that turn a mobile phone into a barcode scanner are critical to an app’s success. Visual Studio makes it easy to add plugins of all kinds, including core Cordova and custom plugins. You also benefit from IntelliSense for plugins in Visual Studio.

Unified debugging experience. Cross-platform development often requires a different tool for debugging each device, emulator, or simulator. Different tools mean different workflows and lost productivity every time you switch devices. With Visual Studio, you can use the same world-class debugging tools for all deployment targets, including iOS devices and emulators, Android devices and emulators, Windows, and the Apache Ripple emulator.

Write once, deploy everywhere. The common JavaScript and plugin APIs in Cordova make it easy to write an app using a single code base that deploys to all target platforms—iOS, Android, and Windows. Of course, you can always write platform-specific code if and when you need it.

Command line interoperability. The Visual Studio solution directly reflects the file system and is updated in real time. This means that it is easier than ever to use your favorite command line tool with Visual Studio.

Multi-Version Cordova support. The Visual Studio solution allows you to select different versions of Cordova at the project level.

Visual Studio 2015 Professional Edition – Professional developer tools and services for individual developers or small teams

Visual Studio 2015 Enterprise Edition – Enterprise grade solution with advanced capabilities for teams working on projects of any size or complexity, including advanced testing and DevOps

Changes in MSDN Subscription Levels

MSDN Subscription Levels also has changed: there will be only two subscription levels MSDN PRO and MSDN Enterprise. If you have a valid MSDN Premium subscription, it will be automatically upgraded to MSDN Enterprise, which is fully loaded as previous MSDN Ultimate.

Limited Period Upgrade Offer– 50% off on upgrade to Premium

Beginning May 2015 – Upgrade from : Visual Studio Professional with MSDN or Visual Studio Test Professional with MSDN to Visual Studio Premium with MSDN for 50% off the regular list price and get a free upgrade to Visual Studio Enterprise with MSDN automatically when Microsoft release Visual Studio 2015.

Since the introduction of Swift by Apple( a new programming language for developing iOS apps using xcode) , among iOS developers it has become a myth that Swift is going to replace Objective-C.

I just would like to add my few cents to this view:

MYTH 1: Swift will replace Objective-C immediately

NO, Swift is a new and flexible way of developing iOS apps. Though it has advantage over Objective-C, in terms of performance, stability and simplicity. Objective-C has come so far and lots of apps developers prefers objective-c as their primary language for iOS development. It will take a long way for developers to migrate to Swift.

Apple doesn’t say you should migrate to Swift immediately, they have given you both options. Based on how flexible you are with each of these languages, you can choose to develop iOS apps using:

Swift

Objective-C

a Combination of both (this would me more applicable for existing applications).

Apple has just given you another option for Developing iOS apps. So don’t fear about migrating to Swift immediately.

MYTH 2: Existing apps should be migrated to SWIFT immediately

NO, Apple has given you a new concise language and syntax for iOS application development in fewer lines than traditional Objective-C.

You don’t have to migrate your existing applications to SWIFT, that’s not the intend. You have the flexibility to develop new features and additions to your apps using Swift (without upgrading or converting you code to Swift). Objective-C and Swift can co-exist in application development.

I hope that clarifies some of the confusions.

If you are a beginner and would like to learn about Swift, refer to the following articles:

Google Android Developer team has released version 1.0 of new IDE for developing Android apps. The new IDE is based on popular IntelliJIDEA platform(Community Edition) and Google Android is moving away from Eclipse based IDE for developing Android Mobile Apps.

Developers who willing to develop Android mobile apps should try the new IDE, and for existing developers Eclipse IDE based ADT plugin would be available for some time. Going forward Android Team would freeze releasing updates for ADT Plugin.

Android Studio 1.0 offers following features:

Flexible Gradle-based build system

Build variants and multiple apk file generation

Code templates to help you build common app features

Rich layout editor with support for drag and drop theme editing

Lint tools to catch performance, usability, version compatibility, and other problems

ProGuard and app-signing capabilities

Built-in support for Google Cloud Platform, making it easy to integrate Google Cloud Messaging and App Engine

Being mobile developer and strong follower of Mobile related technologies, always admire to demonstrate my work to my friends and colleagues. All this time I was fancy about iOS Mirroring provided through apps Reflector and Air Server. With help of these tools we used to mirror our iPad/iPhone to be mirrored to a Windows/Mac and then project that to large screen using a Projector. These tools seamlessly mirror your activities on iPad/iPhone and audiences get a live view of the application running in a Live Phone. Advantage is you don’t have to rely on iOS Simulators coming with XCode and iOS SDK alone to demo your applications.

Coming to Windows Phone, we can have the same through a Wired Connection. Probably in recent Microsoft demos you might have fancied how the presenters used to share their Windows Phone activities and features from their live phones. You don’t have to envy them, it is available for our use now.

Microsoft has provided an application to be installed on Windows/Mac or Tablets and through a Wired or Wifi.

3, Launch “Project My Screen App” from Start Menu. It will detect your phone and your will will be prompted to Accept the screen sharing. Click on ‘Yes’, and look how amazing it is to share your screen on PC.

PS: There is a caveat you all need to know, you cannot share DRM protected contents through this feature.

“In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.” -Phil Collins

About

Nithin Mohan – A passionate hardcore application programmer, software architect, and technology evangelist with over 15 years of experience in Web, Mobile, and Cloud applications design and development.
A hardware geek, a kick-starter, and a quick learner.

Disclaimer:
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in any way. This blog is to share knowledge, tips & tricks on software development using Emerging Technologies. Thanks to the readers and sincere thanks to all author's of crossposted blogs. Blog is powered by theme gitsta, customized for this blog. Enjoy reading the blog and subscribe to the RSS feed.